ZIONIST  PUBLICATIONS 

Zionism  aims  to  create  a  publicly-secured,  legally-assured 
home  for  the  Jewish  People  in  Palestine. — Basle  Program 


The  Jewish  Problem 
How  To  Solve  It 


BY 


LOUIS  D.  BRANDEIS 


ZIONIST  ORGANIZATION  OF  AMERICA 

55  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York  City  ' 

*1919 


Ist  EDITION 
2ncl  EDITION 
3rd  EDITION 
4th  EDITION 
5th  EDITION 


10,000,  June,  1915 
10,000,  July,  1915 
10,000,  Aug.,  1916 
10,000,  Sept.,  1917 
10,000,  Jan.,  1919 


* 


PRESS  OF  CLARENCE  S.  NATHAN,  INC.,  NEW  YORK. 


The  JEWISH  PROBLEM 
HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2018  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


https://archive.org/details/jewishproblemhowOObran 


The  JEWISH  PROBLEM 
HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


By  LOUIS  D.  BRANDEIS 

The  suffering  of  the  Jews  due  to  injustices  continuing 
throughout  nearly  twenty  centuries  is  the  greatest  tragedy 
in  history.  Never  was  the  aggregate  of  such  suffering 
larger  than  to-day.  Never  were  the  injustices  more 
glaring.  Yet  the  present  is  pre-eminently  a  time  for 
hopefulness.  The  current  of  world  thought  is  at  last 
preparing  the  way  for  our  attaining  justice.  The  war  is 
developing  opportunities  which  may  make  possible  the 
solution  of  the  Jewish  Problem.  But  to  avail  ourselves  of 
these  opportunities  we  must  understand  both  them  and 
ourselves.  We  must  recognize  and  accept  facts.  We 
must  consider  our  course  with  statesmanlike  calm.  We 
must  pursue  resolutely  the  course  we  shall  decide  upon; 
and  be  ever  ready  to  make  the  sacrifices  which  a  great 
cause  demands.  Thus  only  can  liberty  be  won. 

What  the  Problem  Is 

For  us  the  Jewish  Problem  means  this:  How  can  we 
secure  for  Jews,  wherever  they  may  live,  the  same  rights 
and  opportunities  enjoyed  by  non- Jews?  How  can  we 


4 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


secure  for  the  world  the  full  contribution  which  Jews 
can  make,  if  unhampered  by  artificial  limitatigns? 

The  problem  has  two  aspects:  That  of  the  individual 
Jew — and  that  of  Jews  collectively.  Obviously,  no  .in¬ 
dividual  should  be  subjected  an3nvhere,  by  reason  of  the 
fact  that  he  is  a  Jew,  to  a  denial  of  any  common  right 
or  opportunity  enjoyed  by  non- Jews.  But  Jews  col¬ 
lectively  should  likewise  enjoy  the  same  right  and  oppor¬ 
tunity  to  live  and  develop  as  do  other  groups  of  people. 
This  right  of  development  on  the  part  of  the  group  is 
essential  to  the^full  enjoyment  of  rights  by  the  individual. 
For  the  individual  is  dependent  for  his  development 
(and  his  happiness)  in  large  part  upon  the  development 
of  the  group  of  which  he  forms  a  part.  We  can  scarcely 
conceive  of  an  individual  German  or  Frenchman  living 
and  developing  without  some  relation  to  the  contemporary 
German  or  French  life  and  culture.  And  since  death 
is  not  a  solution  of  the  problem  of  life,  the  solution  of  the 
Jewish  Problem  necessarily  involves  the  continued  exist¬ 
ence  of  the  Jews  as  Jews. 

Jews  have  always  found  it  difficult,  if  not  impossible, 
to  prescribe  by  definition  who  shall  be  deemed  Jews. 
But  in  the  connection  in  which  we  are  considering  the 
term,  it  is  certainly  not  in  the  power  of  any  single  body 
of  Jews — or  indeed  of  all  Jews  collectively — to  establish 
the  effective  definition.  The  meaning  of  the  word 
Jewish  in  the  term  Jewish  Problem  must  be  accepted 
as  co-extensive  with  the  disabilities  which  it  is  our  prob¬ 
lem  to  remove.  It  is  the  non -Jews  who  create  the  dis¬ 
abilities  and  in  so  doing  give  definition  to  the  term  Jew. 
Those  disabilities  extend  substantially  to  all  of  Jewish 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


5 


blood.  The  disabilities  do  not  end  with  a  renunciation 
of  faith,  however  sincere.  They  do  not  end  with  the 
elimination,  however  complete,  of  external  Jewish  man¬ 
nerisms.  The  disabilities  do  not  end  ordinarily  until 
the  Jewish  blood  has  been  so  thoroughly  diluted  by 
repeated  intermarriages  as  to  result  in  practically  oblit¬ 
erating  the  Jew. 

And  we  Jews,  by  our  own  acts,  give  a  like  definition 
to  the  term  Jew.  When  men  and  women  of  Jewish 
blood  suffer — because  of  that  fact — and  even  if  they 
suffer  from  quite  different  causes — our  sympathy  and  our 
help  goes  out  to  them  instinctively  in  whatever  country 
they  may  live  and  without  inquiring  into  the  shades 
of  their  belief  or  unbelief.  When  those  of  Jewish  blood 
exhibit  moral  or  intellectual  superiority,  genius  or  special 
talent,  we  feel  pride  in  them,  even  if  they  have  abjured 
the  faith  like  Spinoza,  Marx,  Disraeli  or  Heine.  Despite 
the  mediations  of  pundits  or  the  decrees  of  councils, 
our  own  instincts  and  acts,  and  those  of  others,  have 
defined  for  us  the  term  Jew. 

Liberalism  and  Anti-Semitism 

Half  a  century  ago  the  belief  was  still  general  that 
Jewish  disabilities  would  disappear  before  growing 
liberalism.  When  religious  toleration  was  proclaimed, 
the  solution  of  the  Jewish  Problem  seemed  in  sight. 
When  the  so-called  rights  of  man  became  widely  recog¬ 
nized,  and  the  equal  right  of  all  citizens  to  life,  liberty 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  began  to  be  enacted  into 
positive  law,  the  complete  emancipation  of  the  Jew  seemed 


6 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


at  hand.  The  concrete  gains  through  liberalism  were 
indeed  large.  Equality  before  the  law  was  established 
throughout  the  western  hemisphere.  The  Ghetto  walls 
crumbled;  the  ball  and  chain  of  restraint  were  removed 
in  central  and  western  Europe.  Compared  with  the 
cruel  discrimination  to  which  Jews  are  now  subjected 
in  Russia  and  Roiunania,  their  advanced  condition  in 
other  parts  of  Europe  seems  almost  ideal. 

But  the  anti- Jewish  prejudice  w'as  not  exterminated 
even  in  those  countries  of  Europe  in  which  the  triumph 
of  civil  liberty  and  democracy  extended  fully  to  Jews 
“the  rights  of  man.”  The  anti-Semitic  movement  arose 
in  Germany  a  year  after  the  granting  of  universal  suffrage. 
It  broke  out  violently  in  France,  and  culminated  in  the 
Dreyfus  case,  a  century  after  the  French  Revolution 
had  brought  “emancipation.”  It  expressed  itself  in 
England  through  the  Aliens  Act,  within  a  few  years  after 
the  last  of  Jewish  disabilities  had  been  there  removed 
by  law.  And  in  the  United  States  the  Saratoga  incident 
reminded  us,  long  ago,  that  we  too  have  a  Jewish 
question. 

The  disease  is  universal  and  endemic.  There  is,  of 
course,  a  wide  difference  between  the  Russian  disabilities 
with  their  Pale  of  Settlement,  their  denial  of  opportunity 
for  education  and  of  choice  of  occupation,  and  their 
recurrent  pogroms,  and  the  German  disabilities  curbing 
university,  bureaucratic  and  military  careers.  There  is 
a  wide  difference  also  between  these  German  disabilities 
and  the  mere  social  disabilities  of  other  lands.  But 
some  of  those  now  suffering  from  the  severe  disabilities 
imposed  by  Russia  and  Roiunania  are  descendants  of 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


7 


men  and  women  who  in  centuries  before  our  modern 
liberalism  enjoyed  both  legal  and  social  equality  in  Spain 
and  Southern  France.  The  manifestations  of  the  Jewish 
Problem  vary  in  the  different  countries,  and  at  different 
periods  in  the  same  country,  according  to  the  prevailing 
degree  of  enlightenment  and  other  pertinent  conditions. 
Yet  the  differences,  however  wide,  are  merely  in  degree 
an(i  not  in  kind.  The  Jewish  Problem  is  single  and 
universal.'  But  it  is  not  necessarily  eternal.  It  may 
be  solved. 


Democracy  and  Nationality 

Why  is  it  that  liberalism  has  failed  to  eliminate  the 
anti-Jewish  prejudice?  It  is  because  the  liberal  move¬ 
ment  has  not  yet  brought  full  liberty.  Enlightened 
countries  grant  to  the  individual  equality  before  the 
law;  but  they  fail  still  to  recognize  the  equality  of  whole 
peoples  or  nationalities.  We  seek  to  protect  as  individuals 
those  constituting  a  minority;  but  we  fail  to  realize  that 
protection  cannot  be  complete  unless  group  equality  is 
recognized. 

Deeply  imbedded  in  every  people  is  the  desire  for  full 
development — the  longing,  as  Mazzini  phrased  it,  “to 
elaborate  and  express  their  idea,  to  contribute  their 
stone  also  to  the  pyramid  of  history.”  Nationality  like 
democracy  has  been  one  of  the  potent  forces  making 
for  man’s  advance  during  the  past  hundred  years.  The 
assertion  of  nationality  has  infused  whole  peoples  with 
hope,  manhood  and  self-respect.  It  has  ennobled  and 
made  purposeful  millions  of  lives.  It  offered  them  a 
future,  and  in  doing  so  revived  and  capitalized  all  that 


I 


8 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


was  valuable  in  their  past.  The  assertion  of  nationality 
raised  Ireland  from  the  slough  of  despondency.  It 
roused  Southern  Slavs  to  heroic  deeds.  It  created  gallant 
Belgiiun.  It  freed  Greece.  It  gave  us  united  Italy. 
It  manifested  itself  even  among  the  free  peoples — like  the 
Welsh — who  had  no  grievance,  but  who  gave  expression 
to  their  nationality  through  the  revival  of  the  old  Cymric 
tongue.  Each  of  these  peoples  developed  because,  as 
Mazzini  said,  they  were  enabled  to  proclaim  “to  the  world 
that  they  also  live,  think,  love  and  labor  for  the  benefit 
of  all.” 

In  the  past  it  has  been  generally  assumed  that  the 
full  development  of  one  people  necessarily  involved  its 
domination  over  others.  Strong  nationalities  are  apt  to 
become  convinced  that  by  such  domination  only  does 
civilization  advance.  Strong  nationalities  assrune  their 
own  superiority,  and  come  to  believe  that  they  possess 
the  divine  right  to  subject  other  peoples  to  their  sway. 
Soon  the  belief  in  the  existence  of  such  a  right  becomes 
converted  into  a  conviction  that  duty  exists  to  enforce 
it.  Wars  of  aggrandizement  follow  as  a  natural  result 
of  this  belief. 

This  attitude  of  certian  nationalities  is  the  exact  correl¬ 
ative  of  the  position  which  was  generally  assiuned  by  the 
strong  in  respect  to  other  individuals  before  democracy 
became  a  common  possession.  The  struggles  of  the 
eighteenth  and  nineteenth  centuries  both  in  peace  and  in 
war  were  devoted  largely  to  overcoming  that  position 
as  to  individuals.  In  establishing  the  equal  right  of  every 
person  to  development,  it  became  clear  that  equal  oppor¬ 
tunity  for  all  involves  this  necessary  limitation:  Each 


t 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


9 


man  may  develop  himself  so  far,  but  only  so  far,  as  his 
doing  so  will  not  interfere  with  the  exercise  of  a  like 
right  by  all  others.  Thus  liberty  came  to  mean  the  right 
to  enjoy  life,  to  acquire  property,  to  pursue  happiness  in 
such  manner  and  to  such  extent  as  the  exercise  of  the 
right  in  each  is  consistent  with  the  exercise  of  a  like 
right  by  every  other  of  our  fellow-citizens.  Liberty 
thus  defined  underlies  twentieth  century  democracy. 
Liberty  thus  defined  exists  in  a  large  part  of  the  western 
world.  And  even  where  this  equal  right  of  each  indi¬ 
vidual  has  not  yet  been  accepted  as  a  political  right,  its 
ethical  claim  is  gaining  recognition.  Democracy  rejected 
the  proposal  of  the  superman  who  should  rise  through 
sacrifice  of  the  many.  It  insists  that  the  full  develop¬ 
ment  of  each  individual  is  not  only  a  right,  but  a  duty 
to  society;  and  that  our  best  hope  for  civilization  lies 
not  in  uniformity,  but  in  wide  differentiation. 

The  movements  of  the  last  century  have  proved  that 
whole  peoples  have  individuality  no  less  marked  than 
that  of  the  single  person;  that  the  individuality  of  a 
people  is  irrepressible,  and  that  the  misnamed  inter¬ 
nationalism  which  seeks  the  obliteration  of  nationalities 
or  peoples  is  unattainable.  The  new  nationalism  pro¬ 
claims  that  each  race  or  people,  like  each  individual, 
has  a  right  and  duty  to  develop,  and  that  only  through 
such  differentiated  development  will  high  civilization 
be  attained.  Not  until  these  principles  of  nationalism, 
like  those  of  democracy,  are  generally  accepted,  will 
liberty  be  fully  attained,  and  minorities  be  secure  in 
their  rights.  But  there  is  ground  for  hope  that  the 
establishment  of  these  principles  will  come  as  one  of  the 


10 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


compensations  of  the  present  war;  and  with  it  the  solution 
of  the  Jewish  Problem. 


Nations  and  Nationality 

The  difference  between  a  nation  and  a  nationality  is 
clear;  but  it  is  not  always  observed.  Likeness  between 
members  is  the  essence  of  nationality;  but  the  members 
of  a  nation  may  be  very  different.  A  nation  may  be 
composed  of  many  nationalities,  as  some  of  the  most 
suecessful  nations  are.  An  instance  of  this  is  the  British 
nation,  with  its  division  into  English,  Scotch,  Welsh, 
and  Irish  at  home;  with  the  French  in  Canada;  and, 
throughout  the  Empire,  scores  of  other  nationalities. 
Other  examples  are  furnished  by  the  Swiss  nation  with  its 
German,  Freneh  and  Italian  sections;  by  the  Belgian 
nation  composed  of  Flemings  and  Walloons;  and  by  the 
American  nation  which  comprises  nearly  all  the  white 
nationalities.  The  unity  of  a  nationality  is  a  fact  of 
nature.  The  unifying  of  a  nation  is  largely  the  work  of 
man.  The  false  doctrine  that  nation  and  nationality 
msut  be  made  co-extensive  is  the  cause  of  some  of  our 
greatest  tragedies.  It  is,  in  large  part,  the  cause  also 
of  the  present  war.  It  has  led,  on  the  one  hand,  to  cruel, 
futile  attempts  at  enforced  assimilation,  like  the  Russian¬ 
izing  of  Finland  and  Poland,  and  the  Prussianizing  of 
Posen,  Schleswig-Holstein,  and  Alsace-Lorraine.  It  has 
led,  on  the  other  hand,  to  those  Panistic  movements 
whieh  are  a  cloak  for  territorial  ambitions.  As  a  nation 
may  develop  though  composed  of  many  nationalities, 
so  a  nationality  may  develop  though  forming  part  of 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


11 


several  nations.  The  essential  in  either  case  is  recogni¬ 
tion  of  the  equal  rights  of  each  nationality. 


Jewish  Nationality 

W.  Allison  Philips  recently  defined  nationality  as  “an 
extensive  aggregate  of  persons,  conscious  of  a  community 
of  sentiments,  experiences,  or  qualities  whieh  make 
them  feel  themselves  a  distinct  people.”  And  he  adds: 
“If  we  examine  the  composition  of  the  several  nationali¬ 
ties  we  find  these  elements:  race,  language,  religion, 
common  habitat,  common  conditions,  mode  of  life  and 
manners,  political  association.  The  elements  are,  how¬ 
ever,  never  all  present  at  the  same  time,  and  none  of  them 
is  essential.”  *  *  *  “A  common  habitat  and  common 

conditions  are  doubtless  powerful  influences  at  times  in 
determining  nationality;  but  what  part  do  they  play  in 
that  of  the  Jews  or  the  Greeks,  or  the  Irish  in  dispersion?” 

See  how  this  high  authority  assum'fes  without  question 
that  the  Jews  are,,  despite  their  dispersion,  a  distinct 
nationality;  and  he  groups  us  with  the  Greeks  or  the 
Irish — two  other  peoples  of  marked  individuality.  Can 
it  be  doubted  that  we  Jews — aggregating  14,000,000 
people — are  “an  extensive  aggregate  of  persons;”  that 
we  are  “conscious  of  a  community  of  sentiments,  experi¬ 
ences  and  qualities  which  make  us  feel  ourselves  a  distinct 
people,”  whether  we  admit  it  or  not? 

It  is  no  answer  to  this  evidence  of  nationality  to  declare 
that  the  Jews  are  not  an  absolutely  pure  race.  There 
has,  of  course,  been  some  intermixture  of  foreign  blood 
in  the  three  thousand  years  which  constitute  our  historic 


12 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


period.  But,  owing  to  persecution  and  prejudice,  the 
intermarriages  with  non- Jews  which  occurred  have  re¬ 
sulted  merely  in  taking  away  many  from  the  Jewish 
community.  Intermarriage  has  brought  few  additions. 
Therefore,  the  percentage  of  foreign  blood  in  the  Jews 
of  to-day  is  very  low.  Probably  no  important  European 
race  is  as  pure. 

But  common  race  is  only  one  of  the  elements  which 
determine  nationality.  Conscious  community  of  senti¬ 
ments,  common  experiences,  common  qualities  are  equally, 
perhaps  more,  important.  Religion,  traditions  and  cus¬ 
toms  bound  us  together,  though  scattered  throughout  the 
world.  The  similarity  of  experiences  tended  to  produce 
similarity  of  qualities  and  community  of  sentiments. 
Common  suffering  so  intensified  the  feeling  of  brother¬ 
hood  as  to  overcome  largely  all  the  influences  making  for 
diversification.  The  segregation  of  the  Jews  was  so 
general,  so  complete,  and  so  long  continued  as  to  intensify 
our  ‘‘peculiarities”  and  make  them  almost  ineradicable. 


Assertion  of  Jewish  Nationality 

'  We  recognize  that  with  each  child  the  aim  of  education 
should  be  to  develop  his  own  individuality,  not  to  make 
him  an  imitator,  not  to  assimilate  him  to  others.  Shall 
we  fail  to  recognize  this  truth  when  applied  to  whole 
peoples?  And  what  people  in  the  world  has  shown 
greater  individuality  than  the  Jews?  Has  any  a  nobler 
past?  Does  any  possess  common  ideas  better  worth 
expressing?  Has  any  marked  traits  worthier  of  develop¬ 
ment?  Of  all  the  peoples  in  the  world  those  of  two 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


13 


tiny  states  stand  pre-eminent  as  contributors  to  our 
present  civilization — the  Greeks  and  the  Jews.  The 
Jews  gave  to  the  world  its  three  greatest  religions,  rever¬ 
ence  for  law,  and  the  highest  conceptions  of  morality. 
Never  before  has  the  value  of  our  contribution  been 
so  generally  recognized.  Our  teaching  of  brotherhood 
and  righteousness  has,  under  the  name  of  democracy 
and  social  justice,  become  the  twentieth  century  striving 
of  America  and  of  western  Europe.  Our  conception 
of  law  is  embodied  in  the  American  Constitution  which 
proclaims  this  to  be  a  “government  of  laws  and  not  of 
men.”  And  for  the  triumph  of  our  other  great  teaching 
— the  doctrine  of  peace — this  cruel  war  is  paving  the  way. 

While  every  other  people  is  striving  for  development 
by  asserting  its  nationality,  and  a  great  war  is  making 
clear  the  value  of  small  nations,  shall  we  voluntarily 
yield  to  anti-Semitism,  and  instead  of  solving  our  “prob¬ 
lem”  end  it  by  ignoble  suicide?  Surely  this  is  no  time 
for  Jews  to  despair.  Let  us  make  clear  to  the  world 
that  we  too  are  a  nationality  striving  for  equal  rights 
to  life  and  to  self-expression.  That  this  should  be  our 
course  has  been  recently  expressed  by  high  non-Jewish 
authority.  Thus  Seton- Watson,  speaking  of  the  probable 
results  of  the  war,  said: 

“There  are  good  grounds  for  hoping  that  it  [the  war] 
will  also  give  a  new  and  healthy  impetus  to  Jewish  national 
policy,  grant  freer  play  to  their  splendid  qualities,  and 
enable  them  to  shake  off  the  false  shame  which  has  led 
men  who  ought  to  be  proud  of  their  Jewish  race  to  assmne 
so  many  alien  disguises  and  to  accuse  of  anti-Semitism 
those  who  refuse  to  be  deceived  by  mere  appearances. 


14 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


It  is  high  time  that  the  Jews  should  realize  that  few 
things  do  more  to  foster  anti-Semitic  feeling  than  this 
very  tendency  to  sail  under  false  colors  and  conceal  their 
true  identity.  The  Zionists  and  the  orthodox  Jewish 
Nationalists  have  long  ago  won  the.  respect  and  ad¬ 
miration  of  the  world.  No  race  has  ever  defied  assimila¬ 
tion  so  stubbornly  and  so  successfully;  and  the  modem 
tendency  of  individual  Jews  to  repudiate  what  is  one 
of  their  chief  glories  suggests  an  almost  comic  resolve 
to  fight  against  the  course  of  nature.” 

Zionism 

Standing  upon  this  broad  foundation  of  nationality, 
Zionism  aims  to  give  it  full  development.  Let  us  bear 
clearly  in  mind  what  Zionism  is,  or  rather  what  it  is  not. 

It  is  not  a  movement  to  remove  all  the  Jews  of  the 
world  compulsorily  to  Palestine.  In  the  first  place, 
there  are  14,000,000  Jews,  and  Palestine  would  not 
accommodate  more  than  one-third  of  that  munber.  In 
the  second  place,  it  is  not  a  movement  to  compel  anyone 
to  go  to  Palestine.  It  is  essentially  a  movement  to 
give  to  the  Jew  more,  not  less,  freedom,- — it  aims  to 
enable  the  Jews  to  exercise  the  same  right  now  exercised 
by  practically  every  other  people  in  the  world:  To  live 
at  their  option  either  in  the  lands  of  their  fathers  or  in 
some  other  country;  a  right  which  members  of  small 
nations  as  well  as  of  large, — ^which  Irish,  Greek,  Bul¬ 
garian,  Serbian,  or  Belgian,  may  now  exercise  as  fully 
as  Germans  or  English. 

Zionism  seeks  to  establish  in  Palestine,  for  such  Jews 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


15 


as  choose  to  go  and  remain  there,  and  for  their  descendants, 
a  legally  secured  home,  where  they  may  live  together 
and  lead  a  Jewish  life,  where  they  may  expect  ultimately 
to  constitute  a  majority  of  the  population,  and  may 
look  forward  to  what  we  should  call  home  rule.  The 
Zionists  seek  to  establish  this  home  in  Palestine  because 
they  are  convinced  that  the  undying  longing  of  Jews 
for  Palestine  is  a  fact  of  deepest  significance;  that  it  is 
a  manifestation  in  the  struggle  for  existence  by  an  ancient 
people  which  have  established  their  right  to  live — a  people 
whose  three  thousand  years  of  civilization  has  produced 
a  faith,  culture,  and  individuality  which  enable  them  to 
contribute  largely  in  the  future,  as  they  have  in  the  past, 
to  the  advance  of  civilization;  and  that  it  is  not  a  right 
merely,  but  a  duty  of  the  Jewish  nationality  to  survive 
and  develop.  They  believe  that  there  only  can  Jewish 
life  be  fully  protected  from  the  forces  of  disintegration; 
that  there  alone  can  the  Jewish  spirit  reach  its  full  and 
natural  development;  and  that  by  securing  for  those 
Jews  who  wish  to  settle  in  Palestine  the  opportunity 
to  do  so,  not  only  those  Jews,  but  all  other  Jews  will  be 
benefited  and  that  the  long  perplexing  Jewish  Problem 
will,  at  last,  find  solution. 

They  believe  that  to  accomplish  this,  it  is  not  neces¬ 
sary  that  the  Jewish  population  of  Palestine  be  large  as 
compared  with  the  whole  number  of  Jews  in  the  world; 
for  throughout  centuries  when  the  Jewish  influence  was 
greatest,  during  the  Persian,  the  Greek,  and  the  Roman 
Empires,  only  a  relatively  small  part  of  the  Jews  lived 
in  Palestine;  and  only  a  small  part  of  the  Jews  returned 
from  Babylon  when  the  Temple  was  rebuilt. 


I 


16 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


Since  the  destruction  of  the  Temple,  nearly  two  thous¬ 
and  years  ago,  the  longing  for  Palestine  has  been  ever 
present  with  the  Jew.  It  was  the  hope  of  a  return  to  the 
land  of  his  fathers  that  buoyed  up  the  Jew  amidst  per¬ 
secution,  and  for  the  realization  of  which  the  devout 
ever  prayed.  Until  a  generation  ago  this  was  a  hope 
merely — a  wish  piously  prayed  for,  but  not  worked  for. 
The  Zionist  movement  is  idealistic,  but  it  is  also  essen¬ 
tially  practical.  It  seeks  to  realize  that  hope;  to  make 
the  dream  of  a  Jewish  life  in  a  Jewish  land  come  true 
as  other  great  dreams  of  the  world  have  been  realized — 
by  men  working  with  devotion,  intelligence,  and  self- 
sacrifice.  It  was  thus  that  the  dream  of  Italian  inde¬ 
pendence  and  unity,  after  centuries  of  vain  hope,  came 
true  through  the  efforts  of  Mazzini,  Garibaldi  and  Cavour; 
that  the  dream  of  Greek,  of  Bulgarian  and  of  Serbian 
independence  became  facts. 

Zionism  a  Fact 

The  rebirth  of  the  Jewish  nation  is  no  longer  a  mere 
dream.  It  is  in  process  of  accomplishment  in  a  most 
practical  way,  and  the  story  is  a  wonderful  one.  A 
generation  ago  a  few  Jewish  emigrants  from  Russia  and 
from  Roumania,  instead  of  proceeding  westward  to  this 
hospitable  country  where  they  might  easily  have  secured 
material  prosperity,  turned  eastward  for  the  purpose 
of  settling  in  the  land  of  their  fathers. 

To  the  worldly-wise  these  efforts  at  colonization 
appeared  very  foolish.  Nature  and  man  presented 
obstacles  in  Palestine  which  appeared  almost  insuper- 


I 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


17 


able;  and  the  colonists  were  in  fact  ill-equipped  for  their 
task,  save  in  their  spirit  of  devotion  and  self-sacrifice. 
The  land,  harassed  by  centuries  of  misrule,  was  treeless 
and  apparently  sterile;  and  it  was  infested  with  malaria. 
The  Government  offered  them  no  security,  either  as  to 
life  or  property.  The  colonists  themselves  were  not  only 
unfamiliar  with  the  character  of  the  country,  but  were 
ignorant  of  the  farmer’s  life  which  they  purposed  to 
lead;  for  the  Jews  of  Russia  and  Roumania  had  been 
generally  denied  the  opportunity  of  owning  or  working 
land.  Furthermore,  these  colonists  were  not  inured 
to  the  physical  hardships  to  which  the  life  of  a  pioneer 
is  necessarily  subjected.  To  these  hardships  and  to 
malaria  many  succtimbed.  Those  who  survived  were 
long  confronted  with  failure.  But  at  last  success  came. 
Within  a  generation  these  Jewish  Pilgrim  Fathers,  and 
those  who  followed  them,  have  succeeded  in  establishing 
these  two  fundamental  propositions: 

First:  That  Palestine  is  fit  for  the  modern  Jew. 

Second:  That  the  modem  Jew  is  fit  for  Palestine. 

Over  forty  self-governing  Jewish  colonies  attest  to  this 
remarkable  achievement. 

This  land,  treeless  a  generation  ago,  supposed  to  be 
sterile  and  hopelessly  arid,  has  been  shown  to  have  been 
treeless  and  sterile  only  because  of  man’s  mismle.  It 
has  been  shown  to  be  capable  of  becoming  again  a  land 
“flowing  with  milk  and  honey.”  Oranges  and  grapes, 
olives  and  almonds,  wheat  and  other  cereals  are  now 
growing  there  in  profusion. 

This  material  development  has  been  attended  by  a 
spiritual  and  social  development  no  less  extraordinary; 


18 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


a  development  in  education,  in  health  and  in  social 
order;  and  in  the  character  and  habits  of  the  population. 
Perhaps  the  most  extraordinary  achievement  of  Jewish 
nationalism  is  the  revival  of  the  Hebrew  Language,  which 
has  again  become  a  language  of  the  common  intercourse 
of  men.  The  Hebrew  tongue,  called  a  dead  language 
for  nearly  two  thousand  years,  has,  in  the  Jewish  colonies 
and  in  Jerusalem,  become  again  the  living  mother-tongue. 
The  effect  of  this  common  language  in  unifying  the  Jews 
is,  of  course,  great;  for  the  Jews  of  Palestine  came  literally 
from  all  the  lands  of  the  earth,  each  speaking,  excepting 
those  who  used  Yiddish,  the  language  of  the  country 
from  which  he  came,  and  remaining  in  the  main  almost 
a  stranger  to  the  other  Jews.  But  the  effect  of  the 
renaissance  of  the  Hebrew  tongue  is  far  greater  than 
that  of  unifying  the  Jews.  It  is  a  potent  factor  in 
reviving  the  essentially  Jewish  spirit. 

Our  Jewish  Pilgrim  Fathers  have  laid  the  foundation. 
It  remains  for  us  to  build  the  superstructure. 

Zionism  and  Patriotism 

Let  no  American  imagine  that  Zionism  is  inconsistent 
with  Patriotism.  Multiple  loyalties  are  objectionable 
only  if  they  are  inconsistent.  A  man  is  a  better  citizen 
of  the  United  States  for  being  also  a  loyal  citizen  of  his 
state  and  of  his  city;  for  being  loyal  to  his  family,  and 
to  his  profession  or  trade;  for  being  loyal  to  his  college 
or  his  lodge.  Every  Irish  American  who  contributed 
towards  advancing  home  rule  was  a  better  man  and  a 
better  American  for  the  sacrifice  he  made.  Every  Ameri- 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


19 


can  Jew  who  aids  in  advancing  the  Jewish  settlement  in 
Palestine,  though  he  feels  that  neither  he  nor  his  de¬ 
scendants  will  ever  live  there,  will  likewise  be  a  better 
man  and  a  better  Ameriean  for  doing  so. 

Note  what  Seton- Watson  says: 

“America  is  full  of  nationalities  whieh,  while  accepting 
with  enthusiasm  their  new  American  citizenship,  never¬ 
theless  look  to  some  eentre  in  the  old  world  as  the  source 
and  inspiration  of  their  national  culture  and  traditions.- 
The  most  typical  instance  is  the  feeling  of  the  American 
Jew  for  Palestine  which  may  well  become  a  focus  for  his 
declasse  kinsmen  in  other  parts  of  the  world.” 

There  is  no  inconsistency  between  loyalty  to  America 
and  loyalty  to  Jewry.  The  Jewish  spirit,  the  product 
of  our  religion  and  experiences,  is  essentially  modem 
and  essentially  American.  Not  since  the  destmction  of 
the  Temple  have  the  Jews  in  spirit  and  in  ideals  been 
so  fully  in  harmony  with  the  noblest  aspirations  of  the 
country  in  which  they  lived. 

America’s  fundamental  law  seeks  to  make  real  the 
brotherhood  of  man.  That  brotherhood  became  the 
Jewish  fundamental  law  more  than  twenty-five  huddred 
years  ago.  America’s  insistent  demand  in  the  twentieth 
eentury  is  for  social  justice.  That  also  has  been  the 
Jews’  striving  for  ages.  Their  affliction  as  well  as  their 
religion  has  prepared  the  Jews  for  effective  demoeracy. 
Persecution  broadened  their  sympathies.  It  trained  them 
in  patient  endurance,  in  self-control,  and  in  sacrifice. 
It  made  them  think  as  well  as  suffer.  It  deepened  the 
passion  for  righteousness. 

Indeed,  loyalty  to  America  demands  rather  that  each 


20 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


American  Jew  become  a  Zionist.  For  only  through  the 
ennobling  effect  of  its  strivings  can  we  develop  the  best 
that  is  in  us  and  give  to  this  country  the  full  benefit  of 
our  great  inheritance.  The  Jewish  spirit,  so  long  pre¬ 
served,  the  character  developed  by  so  many  centuries 
of  sacrifice,  should  be  preserved  and  developed  further, 
so  that  in  America  as  elsewhere  the  sons  of  the  race  may 
in  future  live  lives  and  do  deeds  worthy  of  their  ancestors. 

What  America  Demands  oe  Its  Jews 

But  we  have  also  an  immediate  and  more  pressing  duty 
in  the  performance  of  which  Zionism  alone  seems  capable 
of  affording  effective  aid.  We  must  protect  America 
and  ourselves  from  demoralization,  which  has  to  some 
extent  already  set  in  among  American  Jews.  The  cause 
of  this  demoralization  is  clear.  It  results  in  large  part 
from  the  fact  that  in  our  land  of  liberty  all  the  restraints 
by  which  the  Jews  were  protected  in  their  Ghettos  were 
removed  and  a  new  generation  left  without  necessary 
moral  and  spiritual  support.  And  is  it  not  equally 
deaf  what  the  only  possible  remedy  is?  It  is  the  laborious 
task  of  inculcating  self-respect — a  task  which  can  be  accom¬ 
plished  only  by  restoring  the  ties  of  the  Jew  to  the  noble 
past  of  his  race,  and  by  making  him  realize  the  possi¬ 
bilities  of  a  no  less  glorious  future.  The  sole  bulwark 
■^gainst  demoralization  is  to  develop  in  each  new  generation 
of  Jews  in  America  the  sense  of  “noblesse  oblige”  That 
spirit  can  be  developed  in  those  who  regard  their  race 
as  destined  to  live  and  to  live  with  a  bright  future.  That 
spirit  can  best  be  developed  by  actively  participating 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


21 


in  some  way  in  furthering  the  ideals  of  the  Jewish  re¬ 
naissance;  and  this  can  be  done  effectively  only  through 
furthering  the  Zionist  movement. 

In  the  Jewish  colonies  of  Palestine  there  are  no  Jewish 
criminals;  because  everyone,  old  and  young  alike,  is  led 
to  feel  the  glory  of  his  race  and  his  obligation  to  carry 
forward  its  ideals.  The  new  Palestinian, Jewry  produces 
instead  of  criminals  great  scientists  like  Aaron  Aaron- 
sohn,  the  discoverer  of  wild  wheat;  great  pedagogues  like 
David  Yellin;  craftsmen  like  Boris  Shatz,  the  founder 
of  the  Bezalel;  intrepid  Shom’rim,  the  Jewish  guards 
of  peace,  who  watch  in  the  night  against  marauders  and 
doers  of  violent  deeds. 

And  the  Zionist  movement  has  brought  like  inspiration 
•to  the  Jews  in  the  Diaspora,  as  Steed  has  shown  in  this 
striking  passage  from  “The  Hapsburg  Monarchy”; 

“To  minds  like  these  Zionism  came  with  the  force  of 
an  evangel.  To  be  a  Jew  and  to  be  proud  of  it;  to  glory 
in  the  power  and  pertinacity  of  the  race,  its  traditions, 
its  triumphs,  its  sufferings,  its  resistance  to  persecution; 
to  look  the  world  frankly  in  the  face  and  to  enjoy  the 
luxury  of  moral  and  intellectual  honesty;  to  feel  pride 
in  belonging  to  the  people  that  gave  Christendom  its 
divinities,  that  taught  half  the  world  monotheism,  whose 
ideas  have  permeated  civilization  as  never  the  ideas  of 
a  race  before  it,  whose  genius  fashioned  the  whole  me¬ 
chanism  of  modern  commerce,  and  whose  artists,  actors, 
singers  and  writers  have  filled  a  larger  place  in  the  cul¬ 
tured  universe  than  those  of  any  other  people.  This, 
or  something  like  this,  was  the  train  of  thought  fired  in 
youthful  Jewish  minds  by  the  Zionist  spark.  Its  effect 


22 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


upon  the  Jewish  students  of  Austrian  universities  was 
immediate  and  striking.  Until  then  they  had  been 
despised  and  often  ill-treated.  They  had  wormed  their 
way  into  appointments  and  into  the  free  professions  by 
dint  of  pliancy,  mock  humility,  mental  acuteness,  and 
clandestine  protection.  If  struck  or  spat  upon  by 
‘Aryan’  students,  they  rarely  ventured  to  return  the 
blow  or  the  insult.  But  Zionism  gave  them  courage. 
They  formed  associations,  and  learned  athletic  drills 
and  fencing.  Insult  was  requited  with  insult,  and 
presently  the  best  fencers  of  the  fighting  German  corps 
found  that  Zionist  students  could  gash  cheeks  quite  as 
effectually  as  any  Teuton,  and  that  the  Jews  were  in  a 
fair  way  to  become  the  best  swordsmen  of  the  univer¬ 
sity.  To-day  the  purple  cap  of  the  Zionist  is  as  respected 
as  that  of  any  academical  association. 

“This  moral  influence  of  Zionism  is  not  confined  to 
university  students.  It  is  quite  as  noticeable  among  the 
mass  of  the  younger  Jews  outside,  who  also  find  in  it  a 
reason  to  raise  their  heads,  and,  taking  their  stand  upon  the 
past,  to  gaze  straightforwardly  into  the  future.” 

Our  Duty 

Since  the  Jewish  Problem  is  single  and  universal,  the 
Jews  of  every  country  should  strive  for  its  solution.  But 
the  duty  resting  upon  us  of  America  is  especially  in¬ 
sistent.  We  niunber  3,000,000,  which  is  more  than  one- 
fifth  of  all  the  Jews  in  the  world — a  number  larger 
than  that  comprised  within  any  other  country,  except 
the  Russian  Empire.  We  are  representative  of  all  the 
Jews  in  the  world;  for  we  are  composed  of  immigrants, 


HOW  TO  SOLVE  IT 


23 


or  descendants  of  immigrants  coming  from  every  other 
country,  or  district.  We  include  persons  from  every 
section  of  society,  and  of  every  shade  of  religious  belief. 
We  are  ourselves  free  from  civil  or  political  disabilities 
and  are  relatively  prosperous.  Our  fellow  Americans 
are  infused  with  a  high  and  generous  spirit,  which  insures 
approval  of  our  struggle  to  ennoble,  liberate,  and  other¬ 
wise  improve  the  condition  of  an  important  part  of  the 
human  race;  and  their  innate  manliness  makes  them 
sympathize  particularly  with  our  efforts  at  self-help. 
America’s  detachment  from  the  old-world  problem  re¬ 
lieves  us  from  suspicions  and  embarrassments  frequently 
attending  the  activities  of  Jews  of  rival  European  countries. 
And  a  conflict  between  American  interests  or  ambitions 
and  Jewish  aims  is  not  conceivable.  Our  loyalty  to 
America  can  never  be  questioned. 

Let  us  therefore  lead — earnestly,  courageously  and  joy¬ 
ously— in  the  struggle  for  liberation.  Let  us  all  recognize 
that  we  Jews  are  a  distinct  nationality  of  which  every 
Jew,  whatever  his  country,  his  station  or  shade  of  b.elief, 
is  necessarily  a  member.  Let  us  insist  that  the  struggle 
for  liberty  shall  not  cease  until  equality  of  opportunity 
is  accorded  to  nationalities  as  to  individuals.  Let  us 
insist  also  that  full  equality  of  opportunity  cannot  be 
obtained  by  Jews  until  we,  like  members  of  other  nation¬ 
alities,  shall  have  the  option  of  living  elsewhere  or  of 
returning  to  the  land  of  our  forefathers. 


Organization 

The  fulfilment  of  these  aspirations  is  clearly  demanded 
in  the  interest  of  mankind,  as  well  as  in  justice  to  the  Jews. 


24 


THE  JEWISH  PROBLEM 


They  cannot  fail  of  attainment  if  we  are  united  and 
true  to  ourselves.  But  we  must  be  united  not  only  in 
spirit  but  in  action.  To  this  end  we  must  organize. 
Organize,  in  the  first  place,  so  that  the  world  may  have 
proof  of  the  extent  and  the  intensity  of  our  desire  for 
liberty.  Organize,  in  the  second  place,  so  that  our 
resources  may  become  known  and  be  made  available. 
But  in  mobilizing  our  forces  it  will  not  be  for  war.  The 
whole  world  longs  for  the  solution  of  the  Jewish  Problem. 
We  have  but  to  lead  the  way,  and  we  may  be  sure  of  ample 
co-operation  from  non-Jews.  In  order  to  lead  the  way, 
we  need  not  arms,  but  men;  men  with  those  qualities 
for  which  Jews  should  be  peculiarly  fitted  by  reason  of 
their  religion  and  life;  men  of  courage,  of  high  intel¬ 
ligence,  of  faith  and  public  spirit,  of  indomitable  will  and 
ready  self-sacrifice;  men  who  will  both  think  and  do, 
who  will  devote  high  abilities  to  shaping  our  course 
and  to  overcoming  the  many  obstacles  which  must  from 
time  to  time  arise.  And  we  need  other,  many,  many 
other  men — officers,  commissioned  and  non-commissioned, 
and  common  soldiers  in  the  cause  of  liberty,  who  will 
give  of  their  time  and  resources,  as  occasion  may  demand, 
in  unfailing  and  ever-strengthening  support  of  the 
measures  which  may  be  adopted.  Organization,  thorough 
and  complete,  can  alone  develop  such  leaders  and  the 
necessary  support. 

Oragnize,  Organize,  Organize, — imtil  every  Jew  in 
America  must  stand  up  and  be  counted — counted  with 
us — or  prove  himself,  wittingly  or  unwittingly,  of  the 
few  who  are  against  their  own  people. 


6 


1 


) 


\ 


I 

If  - 


■) 


► 


1 


V 


r 


V 


DATE  LOANED 

SEP  1  7S 

GAYLORD  3563 

PRINTED  IN  U  S.  A. 

A 


-i,' 


I 


j 


■< 


1 


\\ 


wi 


